[Solved] Need GRUB help plz.

[BMaytum]

PC is Asus P4PE w/ Pentium4, 2GB SDRAM, 1 CDRom, 1 DVD drive, and two internal hard disks: (1) WD250GB SATA with WinXP Pro in first partition, formatted as NTFS ~114GB, and remainder is unallocated space; (2) WD120GB IDE drive with an NTFS-formatted ~58GB first partition (I use this for storing Norton GHOST images of WinXP Pro), and an Extended partition containing four PCLOS 2010.07 partitions: / (root, ext4), /home (ext4), /usr (ext4), and linux Swap.

BIOS boot-order is set to: floppy, CDRom, SATA HDD (WD250GB), IDE HDD (WD120GB). After a clean install of WinXP, I installed my old (circa 2002) SystemCommander v.7.05 into the WinXP partition, enabled SC (tried enabling SC from both the WinXP environment and from the SC rescue bootfloppy), but SC doesn't work, i.e. SC doesn't intercept bootup to provide multi-boot selection (SC worked flawlessly in the past when this PC had Win98SE + SC in the first FAT32-formatted partition of WD250GB, WinXP in 2nd primary, and PCLOS2009.xx in extended partitions booted via SC-> Lilo).  Anyway, the fact that SC doesn't work now is not my issue for this post.

BACKGROUND  (sorry I'm long-winded but hope to reduce questions for anyone who can help me out)
PCLOS2010.07 booted from the LiveCD shows (in PCC > Local Disks, and in /etc/fstab) these hard disk mapping & partitions just as I would expect:
  /dev/sda1 for WinXP Pro on NTFS (0x7);
  /dev/sdb1 for NTFS (0x7) [my GHOST image storage partition];
  /dev/sdb5 for PCLOS / root partition;
  /dev/sdb6 for PCLOS /home;
  /dev/sdb7 for PCLOS /usr; and,
  /dev/sdb8 for PCLOS swap.

When I installed PCLOS2010.07 from LiveCD, I chose to NOT install a bootloader (neither Grub nor Lilo), hoping at that time that I might be able to get SC to work.   No such luck with SC thus far...

Subsequently I initially tried to use PCC> Boot> Setup Boot System to setup Lilo text-based bootloader (I've used Lilo in the past in combination with SC on this & on another PC with good result), but when Lilo wouldn't boot PCLOS from the Lilo floppy I made, I decided to instead try Grub (albeit with NO prior Grub experience/knowledge).  First off, I tried making a Grub floppy as per Chapter 3.1 of 'info grub' (that method uses some dd commands) but with no luck - now I suspect apparently that sort of Grub boot floppy is for the case where grub has already been Installed to a hard disk Master Boot Record (which I do NOT want to do) , or in the boot sector of a partition.  Out of my confusion+frustration trying to boot via that dd'd Grub floppy, I *might* have somehow installed Grub boot code in sda1 or sdb5 whilst I tried to use PCC> Boot> Setup Boot System.  I have no idea if I actually did (got error messages), and no idea how to now determine if there's Grub bootcode now in sda1 or sdb5 - and if so, how to remove any such bootcode from a partition boot sector.

A Grub boot floppy to boot PCLOS is all I really need for my purposes.  So now I've followed the steps in 'info grub' > Chapter 3.3 "Installing GRUB using grub-install", specifically:
 (1) I did NOT do any of these:
    

Code:

You only need to specify one argument to the program, namely, where to install the boot loader. The
argument can be either a device file (like `/dev/hda') or a partition
specified in GRUB's notation. For example, under Linux the following
will install GRUB into the MBR of the first IDE disk:

     # grub-install /dev/hda

   Likewise, under GNU/Hurd, this has the same effect:

     # grub-install /dev/hd0

   If it is the first BIOS drive, this is the same as well:

     # grub-install '(hd0)'

   Or you can omit the parentheses:

     # grub-install hd0

because I do NOT want GRUB bootcode in any MBR. I have verified that my installed PCLOS2010.07 did put the applicable Grub files into my root (sdb5) partition (i.e. /boot/gfxmenu and /boot/grub/<stage1, stage2, device.map, menu.lst, and others).

(2) Therefore I instead followed this part of Chapter 3.3 'info grub' to make my current Grub boot floppy disk:
  

Code:

 But all the above examples assume that GRUB should use images under
the root directory. If you want GRUB to use images under a directory
other than the root directory, you need to specify the option
`--root-directory'. The typical usage is that you create a GRUB boot
floppy with a filesystem. Here is an example:

     # mke2fs /dev/fd0
     # mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt
     # grub-install --root-directory=/mnt fd0
     # umount /mnt

   Another example is when you have a separate boot partition which is
mounted at `/boot'. Since GRUB is a boot loader, it doesn't know
anything about mountpoints at all. Thus, you need to run `grub-install'
like this:

     # grub-install --root-directory=/boot /dev/hda

   By the way, as noted above, it is quite difficult to guess BIOS
drives correctly under a UNIX-like OS. Thus, `grub-install' will prompt
you to check if it could really guess the correct mappings, after the
installation. The format is defined in *Note Device map::. Please be
quite careful. If the output is wrong, it is unlikely that your
computer will be able to boot with no problem.

(3)  So now when I begin to boot PCLOS using my current Grub floppy (as made in (2) above), the Grub shell opens from floppy, and I do this:
      

Code:

grub> root ( <tab>
                Available disks are fd0 hd0 hd1
                grub> find /boot/gfxmenu
                hd1,4
                grub> configfile (hd1,4)/boot/grub/menu-trial3.lst

   Then I am presented with PCLOS' graphical boot menu, I chose linux, and PCLOS boots up from hard disk.

WHY I NEED HELP NOW

Here's my current problem:  With PCLOS booted up this way, the two hard disks are identified in reverse order (reversed with respect to BIOS order,  reversed with respect to disk order when booted from LiveCD, reversed with respect to current /etc/fstab, and reversed with respect to /boot/grub/device.lst, that is:
   WD250GB SATA is sdb but it SHOUD be sda  !!
   WD120GB IDE disk is sda but it SHOULD be sdb  !!

For example

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# mount
/dev/sda5 on / type ext4 (rw)
none on /proc type proc (rw)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw)
/dev/sda6 on /home type ext4 (rw)
/dev/sda7 on /usr type ext4 (rw)
none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw)
/dev/sdb1 on /media/WXP-SP3 type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096)

is reversed from:

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# cat /etc/fstab
# Entry for /dev/sdb5 :
UUID=23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026 / ext4 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/sdb6 :
UUID=cbeb92d2-b6d4-458c-b621-4829c6f4a1d3 /home ext4 defaults 1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sdb7 :
UUID=db8aff42-abd7-43f7-b162-bda9074f3c60 /usr ext4 defaults 1 2
# Entry for /dev/sdb8 :
UUID=22af454e-04ea-47f8-8f92-7a8deb5de753 swap swap defaults 0 0
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0

and reversed from:

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# cat /boot/grub/device.map
(fd0) /dev/fd0
(hd0) /dev/sda
(hd1) /dev/sdb

Here's my current 'menu-trial3.lst' file:

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# cat /boot/grub/menu-trial3.lst
#
# BDM edits 9-13-2010 Use "default saved" and added "savedefault" to every entry
#
timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan

gfxmenu (hd1,4)/boot/gfxmenu
default saved

title linux
# root (hd1,4)
kernel (hd1,4)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026 vmalloc=256M resume=UUID=22af454e-04ea-47f8-8f92-7a8deb5de753 splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd1,4)/boot/initrd.img
savedefault

title linux-nonfb
# root (hd1,4)
kernel (hd1,4)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026 vmalloc=256M resume=UUID=22af454e-04ea-47f8-8f92-7a8deb5de753
initrd (hd1,4)/boot/initrd.img
savedefault

title failsafe
# root (hd1,4)
kernel (hd1,4)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026 failsafe vmalloc=256M
initrd (hd1,4)/boot/initrd.img
savedefault

title windows
root (hd0,0)
map (0x81) (0x80)
map (0x80) (0x81)
makeactive
chainloader +1
savedefault

Note: Also WinXP will NOT boot from this boot floppy & menu-trial3.lst (I'll provide details in a supplemental post to this thread), but that's not currently a serious problem.

So, HOW do I get Grub to boot PCLOS with proper disk mapping order (namely, with sda=WD250GB & sdb=WD120GB) from this (or a a re-made) Grub floppy disk?
Thanks in advance for help & any tips.

--- BMaytum made minor edits 9-18AM to correct text typos

[kjpetrie]

What has this to do with GRUB? GRUB's job is to find the kernel, which it does. The kernel and udev identify the devices on the system. Why the livecd sees them in a different order from the installed system I'm not sure, but it is my normal experience that IDE drives are listed first. I think it's because drives can easily change their order (a USB stick will also become /dev/sdX when plugged in) that UUIDs and labels are becoming the preferred way to refer to them.

[Old-Polack]

BMaytum:

I just have to ask, what is this fear you have of having grub installed to an MBR? You were willing, in the past, to have SC plant itself in the MBR, and grub is far better than SC. To go through so much trouble to avoid doing the simplest, most effective boot loader installation, I find amazing.

Before you come to the conclusion that I have a problem with grub floppies, I have quite a few, for emergency purposes, that are much more elaborate than what you have, being self contained, with boot menu, and were far easier to make than what you went through.

That aside, does your BIOS allow for choice of which drive should be the boot drive? I would think yes, as most MB new enough to have SATA controllers do. That and the fact that you've been booting Windows from the SATA drive up until now. Even older BIOS usually have a setting where you chose whether to boot IDE or SCSI first. Newer ones allow to choose which IDE or SATA drive, if you have more than one of each.

[BMaytum]

What has this to do with GRUB? GRUB's job is to find the kernel, which it does. The kernel and udev identify the devices on the system. Why the livecd sees them in a different order from the installed system I'm not sure, but it is my normal experience that IDE drives are listed first. I think it's because drives can easily change their order (a USB stick will also become /dev/sdX when plugged in) that UUIDs and labels are becoming the preferred way to refer to them.

Yes I saw multiple warnings in 'info grub' about the possibility of mis-ordering disks (such as IDE before SCSI/SATA), which further made me decide to go the Grub boot floppy route at least for now.....    And note that my 'menu-trial3.lst' file does include the root=UUID=23da2616-209b-4...... uuid of my PCLOS root (/dev/sdb5) partition, but the UUID doesn't seem to be invoked in my current approach. OR, maybe it does honor the root=UUID=23da.... but then (as you suggest) the installed PCLOS kernel (or udev) maps the disks in reverse order (perhaps because the IDE bus gets probed before or quicker than whatever bus the SATA controller is on.... ?), altho it seems odd that would account for drive mapping reversal of installed PCLOS -vs- LiveCD.

BMaytum:

I just have to ask, what is this fear you have of having grub installed to an MBR? You were willing, in the past, to have SC plant itself in the MBR, and grub is far better than SC. To go through so much trouble to avoid doing the simplest, most effective boot loader installation, I find amazing.

Well O-P, I had several reasons:
(a) I've had many years of experience & successful use with SC to boot multiple Windows OSes + linuxes (dating back to Mandrake & early-to-recent PCLOS);
(b) Although SC does write it's bootcode into first disk MBR, SC can easily be Enabled or Disabled (such as in the case the system becomes non-bootable, with no need to Fix MBR or other 'riskier' methods);
(c) Until recently I've had Zero experience with and no understanding of GRUB;
(d) Considering (c), I feared that I might render this system unbootable via GRUB with no way to revert to at least a bootable WinXP (except MAYBE by using Fix MBR) - this fear has been validated by my current inability to boot WinXP using my current GRUB boot floppy.
Anyway, once I have a successful way to boot PCLOS2010.07 & WinXP via a GRUB boot floppy, I'm certainly willing to THEN use GRUB as the overall system boot loader - I gotta walk before I can run.

That aside, does your BIOS allow for choice of which drive should be the boot drive? I would think yes, as most MB new enough to have SATA controllers do. That and the fact that you've been booting Windows from the SATA drive up until now. Even older BIOS usually have a setting where you chose whether to boot IDE or SCSI first. Newer ones allow to choose which IDE or SATA drive, if you have more than one of each.

Yes my BIOS does allow boot drive choice.  As I said in my initial post "BIOS boot-order is set to: floppy, CDRom, SATA HDD (WD250GB), IDE HDD (WD120GB)." Thus the BIOS defines WD250GB as the boot drive (hd0 in Grub-speak, /dev/sda in kernel-world) and my WD120GB which contains installed PCLOS as a second drive (hd1 in Grub, aka /dev/sdb).  However my current GRUB boot floppy boots PCLOS with WD250GB mapped to /dev/sdb and my WD120GB drive (that contains my installed PCLOS2010.07 partitions) mapped to /dev/sda. These resultant drive mappings are in reverse order from: (1) BIOS, (2) my installed PCLOS /etc/fstab & /boot/grub/device.map, and (3) the drive mapping produced when booting from PCLOS2010.07 LiveCD.  But now I'm repeating myself .....

Moving forward, as I noted in original post, I *might* have installed GRUB bootcode into either WD250 sda1 or in to WD120 sdb5 when I mucked around (pre-GRUB floppy) in PCC> Boot> Setup Boot System, but I'm not sure and I don't know how to determine IF there might be Grub bootcode in either (or both) partition boot sectors. And IF there is such bootcode, HOW can erase it?

Something I noticed when using my current Grub boot floppy (made as I described in original post) is that the graphical OS selection screen offers 3 choices: "Boot PCLOS 2010"; "Boot PCLOS 2010 (safe mode)"; and "Boot Microsoft Windows".  Since those 3 boot choice descriptors are different than the 4 Title phrases in my "menu-trial3.lst", might/does this be an indication that I did install (earlier, via PCC) some GRUB bootcode in either (or both) sda1 and/or sdb5 partition sector(s)?   It kinda seems so to me, in that no matter what I put in my /boot/grub/menu-xxx.lst variants (yes, I've been in trial & error mode) to launch via floppy from Grub shell (as my configfile), my PCLOS then either boots WITH reversed drive mappings, or doesn't boot.

I guess I'm Fundamentally ASSUMING that my current Grub bootfloppy can pass the boot process to the applicable GRUB files installed in my PCLOS root partition, i.e. /boot/grub folder, rather than REQUIRING that Grub bootcode be written into any disk MBR or any partition boot sector.  (Hah-  Told you I'm a newb!)


All help or tips welcomed.
 

[Old-Polack]

BMaytum:

Your BIOS is well suited to safely putting grub in the MBR of the IDE drive, and having it set as the boot drive. From there you will be able to use grub to boot your Windows installation from the grub menu, and not disturb the MBR of the SATA, Windows system drive, in any way, so just choosing to set the SATA drive as the boot drive will bypass grub altogether, and boot your Windows installation using its native boot code from the SATA drive's MBR.

When two drives are involved, one with Windows and one with Linux systems installed, one always wants the grub installation to be on the drive holding the Linux installation. Grub is then safe from being overwritten by Windows repairs, (as Windows is wont to do) and each drive can act independently of the other, should one drive fail. With single drive systems, when grub is installed to the MBR, it is always in danger of being overwritten by any type of Windows repair. MS is very rude in this respect. Grub is easy to restore in such cases, but it is very annoying.

More to the immediate problem of booting Windows, as you presently have things set up, first you have to learn to think as BIOS and grub do. By definition, the boot drive is always (hd0). When the IDE drive is the boot drive, it is (hd0) and the SATA drive becomes (hd1). You must edit your Windows stanza in your menu.lst:

From:

title windows
root (hd0,0)
map (0x81) (0x80)
map (0x80) (0x81)
makeactive
chainloader +1
savedefault

To:

title windows
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (0x81) (0x80)
map (0x80) (0x81)
makeactive
chainloader +1
savedefault

It should then work, assuming that the installation is, in fact, installed on the first partition of that drive.

Since Windows doesn't use the /dev/sdx type references for hard drives, and the running Linux kernel sees the drives from its own perspective, those designations are subject to change with each kernel used. This is why UUID numbers, or partition labels are now used; they remain static even if the /dev/sdx designation changes. I prefer labels to UUID because I, as a person, can understand and relate to the labels better than a long numerical string. To the Linux kernel they are equals, and handled in exactly the same way.

Labels can be applied to your Linux partitions from the liveCD, or the running installed system, after first determining how the running kernel sees them. To identify the partitions the fdisk -l command is used, in a terminal, as root.

[root@localhost ~]# fdisk -l                      <Enter>

On my machine I get;

[root@littleboy ~]# fdisk -l

Code:

Disk /dev/sda: 200.0 GB, 200049647616 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24321 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000565cd

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1               1          45      361431   83  Linux
/dev/sda2              46         257     1702890   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda3             258       12161    95618880   83  Linux
/dev/sda4           12162       24321    97675200    5  Extended
/dev/sda5           12162       24321    97675168+  83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 164.7 GB, 164696555520 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 20023 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes                                                                                                             
Disk identifier: 0xd7523ebd                                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                                             
   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System                                                                                               
/dev/sdb1               1          13      104391   83  Linux                                                                                               
/dev/sdb2              14         257     1959930   82  Linux swap / Solaris                                                                                 
/dev/sdb3             258        1778    12217432+  83  Linux                                                                                               
/dev/sdb4            1779       20023   146552962+   5  Extended                                                                                             
/dev/sdb5            1779        7860    48853633+  83  Linux                                                                                               
/dev/sdb6            7861       14000    49319518+  83  Linux                                                                                               
/dev/sdb7           14001       20023    48379716   83  Linux                                                                                               

Disk /dev/sdc: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdc1               1          39      313236   83  Linux
/dev/sdc2              40        1047     8096760   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdc3            1048        7127    48837600   83  Linux
/dev/sdc4            7128      121601   919512405    5  Extended
/dev/sdc5            7128       20500   107418591   83  Linux
/dev/sdc6           20501       33267   102550896   83  Linux
/dev/sdc7           33268       37158    31254426   83  Linux
/dev/sdc8           37159       41049    31254426   83  Linux
/dev/sdc9           41050       44940    31254426   83  Linux
/dev/sdc10          44941       48831    31254426   83  Linux
/dev/sdc11          48832       61886   104864256   83  Linux
/dev/sdc12          61887      101050   314584798+  83  Linux
/dev/sdc13         101051      104942    31262458+  83  Linux
/dev/sdc14         104943      108893    31736376   83  Linux
/dev/sdc15         108894      113071    33559753+  83  Linux
/dev/sdc16         113072      116988    31463271   83  Linux
/dev/sdc17         116989      121601    37053891   83  Linux

Disk /dev/sdd: 750.2 GB, 750156374016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x2db1883a

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdd1               1          13      104391   83  Linux
/dev/sdd2              14         761     6008310   82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sdd3             762        4497    30009420   83  Linux
/dev/sdd4            4498       91201   696449880    5  Extended
/dev/sdd5            4498       16947   100004593+  83  Linux
/dev/sdd6           16948       41750   199230066   83  Linux
/dev/sdd7           41751       45520    30282493+  83  Linux
/dev/sdd8           45521       50506    40050013+  83  Linux
/dev/sdd9           50507       65096   117194143+  83  Linux
/dev/sdd10          65097       79686   117194143+  83  Linux
/dev/sdd11          79687       91201    92494206   83  Linux

The command to label an ext formatted partition:

[root@localhost ~]# tune2fs -L <label> /dev/sdxn                 <Enter>

Replace <label> with what you want the partition known as, (up to 16 characters) x with the drive letter, and n with the partition number.

The commands to label a swap partition:

[root@localhost ~]# swapoff /dev/sdxn      <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# mkswap -L <label> /dev/sdxn                 <Enter>

As swap labels are not usually shown, you can now test whether the label was successfully created with these commands;

[root@localhost ~]# swapon LABEL=<label>           <Enter>

[root@localhost ~]# swapon -s                <Enter>

If you get a result of this nature, the label has been created and is usable.

[root@littleboy ~]# swapon -s

Code:

Filename                                Type            Size    Used    Priority
/dev/sda2                               partition       1702880 0       3
/dev/sdc2                               partition       8096752 0       3
/dev/sdd2                               partition       6008300 0       3

I have three swap partitions currently in use, all called from labels in my /etc/fstab.

Those labels can then be used in your boot stanzas, in this manner;

title MiniMe 2010
kernel (hd2,13)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=MiniMe_2010 root=LABEL=minime2010 resume=LABEL=swap1000 vga=791
initrd (hd2,13)/boot/initrd.img

In /etc/fstab they take this form;

Code:

# Entry for /dev/sdc14 :
LABEL=minime2010        /                       ext4    defaults,noatime                1 1
LABEL=TR5-Documents     /home/polack/Documents  ext3    rw,user,auto,exec,noatime       0 0
LABEL=Documents2        /home/polack/Documents2 ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
LABEL=share7            /share7                 ext3    rw,user,auto,exec,noatime       0 0
LABEL=share9            /share9                 ext3    rw,user,auto,exec,noatime       0 0
LABEL=movies            /movies                 ext3    rw,user,auto,exec,noatime       0 0
LABEL=movies2           /movies2                ext3    rw,user,auto,exec,noatime       0 0
LABEL=TV-1              /tv                     ext3    rw,user,auto,exec,noatime       0 0
LABEL=storage00         /zstorage00             ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
LABEL=120backup         /zbackup                ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
LABEL=boot200           /mnt/boot               ext3    rw,user,noauto,exec,noatime     0 0
none                    /proc                   proc    defaults                        0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda2 :
LABEL=swap200           swap                    swap    sw,pri=3                        0 0
# Entry for /dev/sdc2 :
LABEL=swap1000          swap                    swap    sw,pri=3                        0 0
# Entry for /dev/sde2 :
LABEL=swap750           swap                    swap    sw,pri=3                        0 0
none                    /dev/pts                devpts  mode=0620                       0 0
/dev/fd0                /mnt/floppy             auto    rw,user,noauto,exec             0 0
/dev/sr0                /mnt/cdrom              auto    ro,user,noauto                  0 0
/dev/sr1                /mnt/dvd                auto    ro,user,noauto                  0 0
# none                  /dev/shm                tmpfs   defaults                        0 0

where the # Entry for /dev/sdc14 : is just a nominal reference, subject to change, as previously noted. That line is commented out with the # character, so the system doesn't see or use it in any way. The same applies to similar lines with reference to the swap partitions. Note that while the # Entry for /dev/sde2 : is seen in the fstab, the partition is currently seen by the running kernel as /dev/sdd2. (See my swapon -s results)

[BMaytum]

Following Old-Polack's response just above (Thanks O-P !), here's what I've done now:

(1) Changed disk boot order in BIOS to: floppy, CDrom, IDE WD120GB, SATA WD250GB, then
(2) Booted system from LiveCD (not from installed PCLOS2010.07 on my WD120GB hard disk), BUT (oddly?) when booted from LiveCD (and logged into a new session as 'root' user), I
see that the WD120GB is STILL mapped to /dev/sdb (NOT to /dev/sda), just like it was when BIOS boot order = floppy, CDRom, SATA WD250, IDE WD120GB as shown by

Code:

[root@localhost root]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x448d1731

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1       14278   114688003+   7  HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0169fed2

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           1        7649    61440561    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2            7650       14593    55777680    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sdb5            7650        8287     5124703+  83  Linux
/dev/sdb6            8288        9562    10241406   83  Linux
/dev/sdb7            9563       14070    36210478+  83  Linux
/dev/sdb8           14071       14593     4200966   82  Linux swap / Solaris

I would have thought that reversing the drive order in BIOS would cause the drive mapping to be reversed, but it didn't (at least not when booted from LiveCD).

I decided to proceed with O-P's additional recommendations while still booted from LiveCD:

(3) As for setting Labels in the installed linux partitions, I didn't need to because I had set them at an earlier time (when I created the partitions during the PCLOS install to hard disk from the LiveCD).
I verified the ext4 partitions are labelled, as shown here (I cut out the non-essential parts in this code block, for brevity):

Code:

[root@localhost root]# tune2fs -l /dev/sdb5
tune2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Filesystem volume name:   PCL-root
Last mounted on:          /
Filesystem UUID:          23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026
 .....
Filesystem OS type:       Linux
 .....
Filesystem created:       Wed Sep  8 20:59:16 2010
Last mount time:          Sat Sep 18 07:53:53 2010
Last write time:          Tue Sep 14 15:41:04 2010
  .....

[root@localhost root]# tune2fs -l /dev/sdb6
tune2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Filesystem volume name:   PCL-home
Last mounted on:          /home
Filesystem UUID:          cbeb92d2-b6d4-458c-b621-4829c6f4a1d3
  ......
Filesystem OS type:       Linux
 ......
Filesystem created:       Wed Sep  8 21:00:57 2010
Last mount time:          Sat Sep 18 07:53:54 2010
Last write time:          Sat Sep 18 10:35:47 2010
  ....

[root@localhost root]# tune2fs -l /dev/sdb7
tune2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Filesystem volume name:   PCL-usr
Last mounted on:          /usr
Filesystem UUID:          db8aff42-abd7-43f7-b162-bda9074f3c60
  .....
Filesystem OS type:       Linux
  .......
Filesystem created:       Wed Sep  8 21:04:23 2010
Last mount time:          Sat Sep 18 07:53:54 2010
Last write time:          Sat Sep 18 10:35:47 2010
  .......

(4) I added a Label to the swap partition, thusly:

Code:

[root@localhost root]# mkswap -L PCL-swap /dev/sdb8
Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 4200960 KiB
LABEL=PCL-swap, UUID=5246af64-7a10-4adf-b861-4727c42024dc
[root@localhost root]# swapon -s
Filename                                Type            Size    Used    Priority
[root@localhost root]# swapon LABEL=PCL-swap
[root@localhost root]# swapon -s
Filename                                Type            Size    Used    Priority
/dev/sdb8                               partition       4200956 0       -1

(Observation: interestingly, either the mkswap or Label step Changed the swap partition UUID);

(5) I used KWrite to edit fstab to use LABELs, etc. here's what I've got now:

Code:

[root@localhost root]# cat /media/PCL-root/etc/fstab
# BDM edited PCLOS-created fstab (backed up as 'fstab-UUID') on 9-18-2010 as
#  noted below to replace UUIDs with LABELs as recommended by Old-Polak in PCLOS forum topic,79699.0,
#  *after* ensuring linux partitions have these volume LABEL PCL-<names> set.
#
# BDM saved this edited file as '/etc/fstab' and as 'etc/fstab-LABEL' on 9-18-2010.
#
# Entry for /dev/sdb5 :
#   UUID=23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026 / ext4 defaults 1 1
LABEL=PCL-root      / ext4 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/sdb6 :
#   UUID=cbeb92d2-b6d4-458c-b621-4829c6f4a1d3 /home ext4 defaults 1 2
LABEL=PCL-home      /home ext4 defaults 1 2
# Entry for /dev/sdb7 :
#   UUID=db8aff42-abd7-43f7-b162-bda9074f3c60 /usr ext4 defaults 1 2
LABEL=PCL-usr       /usr ext4 defaults 1 2
# Entry for /dev/sdb8 :
#   UUID=22af454e-04ea-47f8-8f92-7a8deb5de753 swap swap defaults 0 0
LABEL=PCL-swap      swap swap defaults 0 0
none /proc    proc   defaults 0 0
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0

(6) Using KWrite, I edited an earlier Grub menu list file to make this new 'menu-trial4.lst':

Code:

[root@localhost root]# cat /media/PCL-root/boot/grub/menu-trial4.lst
# BDM edited '/boot/grub/menu.lst-Original' on 9-18-2010 to make this 'menu-trial4.lst'
#  9-18-2010 edits are: (1) use 'default saved' and added 'savedefault' to every stanza,
#    (2) replace every UUID=<uuid> with LABEL=PCL-<name> as per Old-Polack in PCLOS forum topic,79699.0
#    (3) modified windows stanza as noted, as per Old-Polack in PCLOS forum topic,79699.0.
#    But NOTE: this menu-trial4.lst will be for testing PCLOS boot from BDM's Grub floppy
#     (BDM is NOT yet ready to install GRUB to MBR of WD120GB drive since LiveCD maps WD120 to sdb
#      even when BDM set IDE WD120GB disk as the first boot disk in P4PE BIOS, just like LiveCD maps
#      WD120GB disk to sdb when WD120GB is set as second boot disk in P4PE BIOS.).
           
timeout 10
color black/cyan yellow/cyan
gfxmenu (hd0,4)/boot/gfxmenu
# default 0
default saved

title linux
# kernel (hd0,4)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=UUID=23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026  vmalloc=256M resume=UUID=22af454e-04ea-47f8-8f92-7a8deb5de753 splash=silent vga=788
kernel (hd0,4)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux root=LABEL=PCL-root  vmalloc=256M resume=LABEL=PCL-swap splash=silent vga=788
initrd (hd0,4)/boot/initrd.img
savedefault

title linux-nonfb
# kernel (hd0,4)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=UUID=23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026  vmalloc=256M resume=UUID=22af454e-04ea-47f8-8f92-7a8deb5de753
kernel (hd0,4)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=linux-nonfb root=LABEL=PCL-root  vmalloc=256M resume=LABEL=PCL-swap
initrd (hd0,4)/boot/initrd.img
savedefault

title failsafe
# kernel (hd0,4)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=UUID=23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026  failsafe vmalloc=256M
kernel (hd0,4)/boot/vmlinuz BOOT_IMAGE=failsafe root=LABEL=PCL-root  failsafe vmalloc=256M
initrd (hd0,4)/boot/initrd.img
savedefault

title windows
# root (hd1,0)
rootnoverify (hd1,0)
map (0x81) (0x80)
map (0x80) (0x81)
makeactive
chainloader +1
savedefault

As commented in this file, I'll next try booting installed PCLOS from my Grub boot floppy + this 'menu-trial4.lst' because
the reversed BIOS disk order made no difference in disk mapping to PCLOS LiveCD .   So, my story is to be contiinued.......

[BMaytum]

With BIOS boot order changed to: floppy, CD-R, IDE WD120GB (contains PCLOS installation), SATA WD250GB (contains WinXP ibstallation), both PCLOS and WinXP now boot from that Grub boot floppy, with WD120GB now shown as /dev/sda (aka hd0 in Grub-speak) and WD250GB now shown as /dev/sdb (aka hd1 by Grub) -Thanks again O-P !!  

Consequently, I renamed my 'menu-trial4.lst' to 'menu.lst' then made a new Grub boot floppy AND installed Grub boot load bootcode to MBR of WD120GB, following 'grub-install' steps in 'info grub' Chapter 3.3.   Both PCLOS and WinXP now boot natively from Grub in WD120GB MBR AND from this Grub boot floppy.

BUT now I have a new issue, probably related to this BIOS boot order being reversed from the BIOS boot order (floppy, CD-R, WD250GB, WD120GB) in use when I installed PCLOS on WD120GB disk.  This issue isn't fatal but is an annoyance and I don't know how to resolve it.  When I select 'Boot PCLinuxOS' from Grub boot selection screen, the boot process begins, then while loading modules I see:

Code:

Loading <many module names>
Loading sata_promise module
Waiting for device sdb5 to appear (timeout 1 min)
Waiting for device sdb8 to appear (timeout 1 min)
<yes ~1 minute pause here, then 'recovery.....  sda' (too fast to read accurately), and boot completes to PCLOS login menu>

So I'm guessing there's some hard-coded reference(s) to sdb5 & sdb8 in some boot / init script that produces the 'Waiting for device...' issue (remember PCLOS root was sdb5 & Swap was sdb8 back when I installed PCLOS prior to reversing BIOS bootdrive order).  But I don't know how to find & correct the sdb5 & sdb8 references to sda5 & sda8. respectively.  Old-Polack or anyone else: Can you give me guidance on finding & fixing this issue?

TIA.

[kjpetrie]

Check /etc/fstab. Does this use your new labels?

Also you might need to make a replacement initrd. Search the forum for "mkinitrd" for more info on that.

[BMaytum]

Check /etc/fstab. Does this use your new labels?

Yes KJP, my /etc/fstab does use the LABELs method recommended (above) by O-P:

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# cat /etc/fstab
# BDM edited PCLOS-created fstab (backed up as 'fstab-UUID') on 9-18-2010 as
#  noted below to replace UUIDs with LABELs as recommended by Old-Polak in PCLOS forum topic,79699.0,
#  *after* (1) setting BIOS boot order to: floppy, CR-R, IDE WD120GB, SATA WD250GB and
#  *after* (2) ensuring linux partitions have these volume LABEL PCL-<names> set.
#
# BDM saved this edited file as '/etc/fstab' and as 'etc/fstab-LABEL' on 9-20-2010.
#
# Entry for /dev/sda5 (formerly /dev/sdb5 when PCLOS installed 9-8-2010):
#   UUID=23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026 / ext4 defaults 1 1
LABEL=PCL-root / ext4 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/sda6 (formerly /dev/sdb6 when PCLOS installed 9-8-2010):
#   UUID=cbeb92d2-b6d4-458c-b621-4829c6f4a1d3 /home ext4 defaults 1 2
LABEL=PCL-home /home ext4 defaults 1 2
# Entry for /dev/sda7 (formerly /dev/sdb7 when PCLOS installed 9-8-2010):
#   UUID=db8aff42-abd7-43f7-b162-bda9074f3c60 /usr ext4 defaults 1 2
LABEL=PCL-usr /usr ext4 defaults 1 2
# Entry for /dev/sda8 (formerly /dev/sdb8 when PCLOS installed 9-8-2010):
#   UUID=22af454e-04ea-47f8-8f92-7a8deb5de753 swap swap defaults 0 0
LABEL=PCL-swap swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto umask=0,users,iocharset=utf8,noauto,flush,exec 0 0
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0

Also you might need to make a replacement initrd. Search the forum for "mkinitrd" for more info on that.

I conservatively first made a backup copy of the existing initrd.img image file:

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# ls /boot/i* -ls
6604 -rw------- 1 root root 6762103 2010-09-08 21:30 /boot/initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs.img
   0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      30 2010-09-08 21:18 /boot/initrd.img -> initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs.img
[root@localhost ~]# cp /boot/initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs.img /boot/initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs.img-Original
[root@localhost ~]# ls /boot/i* -ls
6604 -rw------- 1 root root 6762103 2010-09-08 21:30 /boot/initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs.img
6604 -rw------- 1 root root 6762103 2010-09-20 11:51 /boot/initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs.img-Original
   0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      30 2010-09-08 21:18 /boot/initrd.img -> initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs.img

Then I executed mkinitrd to create a new initrd.img file and allowed mkinitrd to overwrite the existing one:
(many details trimmed out of code block below, for brevity)

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# mkinitrd -v -f /boot/initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs.img 2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs
Creating initramfs
Looking for driver for /dev/sda5 in /sys/block/sda/sda5
Looking for deps of module scsi:t-0x00: crc-t10dif scsi_mod sd_mod
Looking for deps of module pci:v00008086d000024CBsv00001043sd00008089bc01sc01i8a: scsi_mod libata ata_piix ide-core piix scsi_mod libata ata_piix scsi_mod libata pata_acpi ide-core ide-pci-generic scsi_mod libata ata_generic
Looking for driver for /dev/sda8 in /sys/block/sda/sda8
Using modules:  ext4 crc-t10dif scsi_mod sd_mod libata ata_piix ahci ide-core ide-disk piix pata_acpi ide-pci-generic ata_generic sata_promise
Building initrd in /tmp/initrd.RYCqAA
/sbin/nash -> /tmp/initrd.RYCqAA/bin/nash
 ....
resolving for MODULES
and that has items of ext4 crc-t10dif scsi_mod sd_mod libata ata_piix ahci ide-core ide-disk piix pata_acpi ide-pci-generic ata_generic sata_promise
Looking for deps of module ext4: crc16 jbd2
Looking for deps of module crc-t10dif
Looking for deps of module scsi_mod
Looking for deps of module sd_mod: crc-t10dif scsi_mod
Looking for deps of module libata: scsi_mod
Looking for deps of module ata_piix: scsi_mod libata
Looking for deps of module ahci: scsi_mod libata
Looking for deps of module ide-core
Looking for deps of module ide-disk: ide-core ide-gd_mod
Looking for deps of module piix: ide-core
Looking for deps of module pata_acpi: scsi_mod libata
Looking for deps of module ide-pci-generic: ide-core
Looking for deps of module ata_generic: scsi_mod libata
Looking for deps of module sata_promise: scsi_mod libata
Looking for deps of module ahci: scsi_mod libata
Looking for deps of module ata_generic: scsi_mod libata
Looking for deps of module ata_piix: scsi_mod libata
Looking for deps of module crc16
Looking for deps of module crc-t10dif
Looking for deps of module ext4: crc16 jbd2
Looking for deps of module ide-core
Looking for deps of module ide-disk: ide-core ide-gd_mod
Looking for deps of module ide-gd_mod: ide-core
Looking for deps of module ide-pci-generic: ide-core
Looking for deps of module jbd2
Looking for deps of module libata: scsi_mod
Looking for deps of module pata_acpi: scsi_mod libata
Looking for deps of module piix: ide-core
Looking for deps of module sata_promise: scsi_mod libata
Looking for deps of module scsi_mod
Looking for deps of module sd_mod: crc-t10dif scsi_mod
resolving for availmodules
and that has items of
/lib/modules/2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs/kernel/drivers/ata/ahci.ko.gz -> /tmp/initrd.RYCqAA/lib/modules/2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs/ahci.ko.gz
  ......
Adding module ext4
Adding module crc-t10dif
Adding module scsi_mod
Adding module sd_mod
Adding module libata
Adding module ata_piix
Adding module ahci
Adding module ide-core
Adding module ide-disk
Adding module piix
Adding module pata_acpi
Adding module ide-pci-generic
Adding module ata_generic
Adding module sata_promise
/usr/sbin/resume -> /tmp/initrd.RYCqAA/bin/resume
   ....
This initrd uses dynamic shared objects.
Adding dynamic linker configuration files.
/etc/ld.so.conf -> /tmp/initrd.RYCqAA/etc/ld.so.conf
/etc/ld.so.conf.d/libkde4.conf -> /tmp/initrd.RYCqAA/etc/ld.so.conf.d/libkde4.conf
/etc/ld.so.conf.d/GL/libdrm-psb.conf -> /tmp/initrd.RYCqAA/etc/ld.so.conf.d/libdrm-psb.conf
/etc/ld.so.conf.d/GL/ati.conf -> /tmp/initrd.RYCqAA/etc/ld.so.conf.d/ati.conf
/etc/ld.so.conf.d/GL/standard.conf -> /tmp/initrd.RYCqAA/etc/ld.so.conf.d/standard.conf
/etc/ld.so.conf.d/usrlib.conf -> /tmp/initrd.RYCqAA/etc/ld.so.conf.d/usrlib.conf
Running ldconfig
 

and verified the newly created image was written to /boot:

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# ls /boot/i* -ls
5296 -rw------- 1 root root 5422929 2010-09-20 12:12 /boot/initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs.img
6604 -rw------- 1 root root 6762103 2010-09-20 11:51 /boot/initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs.img-Original
   0 lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root      30 2010-09-08 21:18 /boot/initrd.img -> initrd-2.6.33.5-pclos1.bfs.img

The first time I booted up, I again briefly saw

Code:

Loading <many module names>
Loading sata_promise module
Waiting for drive sdb5 to appear (timeout 1min)
Waiting for drive sdb8 to appear (timeout 1min)

but bootup proceeded with NO 1 minute pause.

On the second and subsequent bootups, I no longer see "Waiting for drive sdb5 (nor sdb8) to appear".  Just a guess: appears that
contents of file /etc/blkid/blkid.tab was changed (during 1st bootup after I ran mkinitrd) from:

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# cat /etc/blkid/blkid-Original.tab
<device DEVNO="0x0801" TIME="1283999428" UUID="3CF0AE1BF0ADDC00" LABEL="WXP-SP3" TYPE="ntfs">/dev/sda1</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0811" TIME="1283999428" UUID="16D2A81FC77CEAC9" LABEL="GH-WXPSP3" TYPE="ntfs">/dev/sdb1</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0815" TIME="1283999428" LABEL="PCL-root" UUID="23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026" TYPE="ext4">/dev/sdb5</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0816" TIME="1283999428" LABEL="PCL-home" UUID="cbeb92d2-b6d4-458c-b621-4829c6f4a1d3" TYPE="ext4">/dev/sdb6</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0817" TIME="1283999428" LABEL="PCL-usr" UUID="db8aff42-abd7-43f7-b162-bda9074f3c60" TYPE="ext4">/dev/sdb7</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0818" TIME="1283999428" UUID="22af454e-04ea-47f8-8f92-7a8deb5de753" TYPE="swap">/dev/sdb8</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0b00" TIME="1283999428" LABEL="livecd 2010070507:53" TYPE="iso9660">/dev/sr0</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0800" TIME="1283999428" TYPE="promise_fasttrack_raid_member">/dev/sda</device>

to this:

Code:

[root@localhost ~]# cat /etc/blkid/blkid.tab
<device DEVNO="0x0801" TIME="1285002756" UUID="16D2A81FC77CEAC9" LABEL="GH-WXPSP3" TYPE="ntfs">/dev/sda1</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0811" TIME="1285002756" UUID="3CF0AE1BF0ADDC00" LABEL="WXP-SP3" TYPE="ntfs">/dev/sdb1</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0805" TIME="1285002756" LABEL="PCL-root" UUID="23da2616-209b-4881-aed5-e2a385629026" TYPE="ext4">/dev/sda5</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0806" TIME="1285002756" LABEL="PCL-home" UUID="cbeb92d2-b6d4-458c-b621-4829c6f4a1d3" TYPE="ext4">/dev/sda6</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0807" TIME="1285002756" LABEL="PCL-usr" UUID="db8aff42-abd7-43f7-b162-bda9074f3c60" TYPE="ext4">/dev/sda7</device>
<device DEVNO="0x0808" TIME="1285002756" LABEL="PCL-swap" UUID="5246af64-7a10-4adf-b861-4727c42024dc" TYPE="swap">/dev/sda8</device>

Thanks KJP, I appreciate your help!  Looks like all is good now, and so next I will proceed to get & install the
latest 2.6.33.7-pclos4.bfs kernel via Synaptic.

I'm marking this thread title as [Solved], kudos again to Old-Polack and kjpetrie.